Movie Review

Hulk

"You?re making me angry."

Once we learned that Ang Lee was to direct "Hulk," it was a given that this film would be different. Watching "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," the quiet, meditative quality of its rather straightforward story was what Lee could bring to this adaptation. A visionary eye that could create balletic art out of a tree fight, and a sad sweetness out of two people at a rest stop.
For Lee, the challenge seemed found in the prospect of bringing that artistic vision to a genre that is known for the fantastic, and that has since become synonymous with box-office hit. Could an art-house director make a comic-book movie? Could a comic-book movie withstand art-house direction?

The story of "Hulk" centers on Bruce Krensler (Eric Bana), a young, brilliant, withdrawn scientist working at UC Berkeley. Adopted and believing that his birth family dead, his memories of early childhood have been repressed, blocked and locked away. He is haunted by nightmares that he doesn?t understand, and though pressed by his ex-girlfriend and lab partner, Betty Ross (Jennifer Connelly), to remember, he doesn?t seem to want to; being the past, he seems content to let it remain there.

Betty, as we learn, is also haunted by nightmares and strangely, Bruce plays a role in them. This, however, does not scare her, but only puzzles her. In a flashback (with editing that reminds us of the power, the life, of memories), we see that Betty has told Bruce of her dreams, and that he has assured that her he?d never harm her.

Both of these people, seemingly destined to find one another, share much more than they know: their distant relationships with their fathers; their childhood; repressed memories; scientists; each looking for the other. Though we only see Bruce and Betty after the breakup, I felt their bond, and I could see that although separated, they were still very much meant.

Of course, Bruce Krensler is our Bruce Banner, though he does not know this ? not until a new janitor arrives that is, and just so happens to be there for the big moment when Bruce gets zapped by Gamma radiation. A lab mishap, Bruce?s DNA is stimulated by the shot, being the catalyst needed to bring forth the Hulk-ness within. The janitor we learn is none other than David Banner (Nick Nolte), who was recently released from prison, another fact that will tie Bruce and Betty together, as well as bring her father, General "Thunderbolt" Ross (Sam Elliott) into the picture.

Bruce and Betty?s research on nanomeds (which are meant to rapidly heal the body) is coveted by a military contractor and old friend of Betty, Glenn Talbot (Josh Lucas). An arrogant, ambitious guy, he is one of the villains of the piece and is rather one-dimensional, thinking only of profit.

This is the framework of "Hulk." Beginning with great opening credits that pay homage to its comic-book source, they explain how it all started, showing the experiments David Banner performed on himself back in the 1960?s, and how his DNA alternation was passed ultimately onto his son. His efforts to find a cure impossible at the time, he believed that drastic measures had to be taken, and boom: what exactly did a four-year-old Bruce Banner witness in that moment all those years ago?

This we do not immediately learn. The film unfolds it as a mystery, and Bruce, though he does not wish it, must find that memory to better understand what is happening to him. Though rage without can in many ways be controlled, as Betty told him, rage within can be much more explosive, especially if the source
remains inaccessible, repressed.

As the above would suggest, the film is at its core, a drama. There are few moments to laugh, but I did not expect to. Spoiled a bit, I knew certain things walking into the cinema, and did not leave at all disappointed. Shot beautifully, the film featured an editing style that was wonderful to watch, as the screen was often dissected into panels that would move up and down, and across ? that would grow and shrink. And though it, movement (life) was created and felt, our eyes moved from one panel to the next as if reading, as if we were being told the story in comic-book fashion.

Not being an expert wit in CGI, I can only say that from what I saw, I found the Hulk creation very impressive. I believed I was watching a real-life, tactile Hulk in front of Betty, the military, and Talbot. And by the time he showed up, my heart was already invested in what happened to Bruce, and watching him grow, bust out of his clothes, roaring, was painful. I could only imagine how that must have felt like for him, so uncontrollable ? how frightening that first transformation was.

And then there is the Hulk himself. Seeing his expressions -- the sadness, the confusion, the anger, the regard -- was very moving. The chase across the desert was heartbreaking. We wondered, "Where is he going?" He seemed so lost. When I looked at the Hulk, I didn?t only see a green, full-of-rage monster,
but a man who was transformed into a being he couldn?t control ? one whom was misunderstood and feared, with power that some wished to harness, and others destroy.

With "Hulk," director Ang Lee has made a comic-book movie that focuses on drama rather than action. It does not offer up a story in order to get to the action, but rather uses the action to further tell the story, delaying it until the precise moment; and I think it works wonderfully well. I felt for Bruce and
Betty, rolled my eyes at Talbot, and tried to see where General Ross was coming from ? frustrated to understand David Banner. As the story unfolded and as we learned more, it all began to make sense ? the pieces of the puzzle beginning to fit.

These elements all came together for me, and I sat there watching for two-plus hours that certainly did not feel like it. By the end, it was like, "What happened to??" And then we see, and then we know that something more will come. The story has only just begun, and hearing Bruce Banner?s final words, as he
stared down his foe with an inner knowing -- could do nothing but bring a smile.

Jennifer's Grade: B+

A	66.7%
B	16.7%
C	16.7%
D	0.0%
F	0.0%